Mavic Mini to feature 18650 Li-Ion batteries

Just recently we posted our exclusive DJI Mavic Mini leak. Perhaps the most fascinating thing about the leaked DJI Mavic Mini drone is its battery. We could be seeing a Mavic Mini 18650 battery being released with the drone. When you consider the unusual shape for the Mavic Mini’s battery compartment, it starts to make sense. In this article, we will detail what we believe to be the Mavic Mini 18650 battery. Be sure to read to the end to see the mocked Mavic Mini 18650 battery pack!   Mavic Mini 18650 battery slot photo Traditional LiPo (Lithium Polymer) drone batteries have featured rectangular battery packs as individual LiPo cells are flat and can be combined into larger packs by stacking individual cells. Take a look at the battery slot on the Mavic Mini below:   18650 battery in the Mavic Mini? Since the battery slot isn’t rectangular, but clearly features rounded edges, we could very well be seeing a 18650 Li-Ion powered Mavic Mini. What are 18650 batteries? 18650 battery initially just look like regular off the shelf AA batteries before you look closely. A closer look reveals that the 18650 battery is quite a bit larger   Mavic Mini Battery Dimensions Since the battery slot on the rumored Mavic Mini is rounded at the edges, it isn’t too far off to assume that we will see our first DJI drone powered by 18650 Li-Ion cells. The 18650 battery technology has progressed quite nicely over the years. I wouldn’t put it past DJI to use some higher-end 18650 cells in the Mavic Mini Analyzing the leaked image of the Mavic Mini battery compartment we can use the microSD slot as a reference in terms of how wide the battery slot is. A microSD card is 11mm in width. We have depicted that with the white rectangle just below the microSD card slot. Based on that measurement we can predict that the battery pack can be a max of 36mm at its widest point. A single 18650 cell is 18mm in diameter and 65mm or 6.5cm in length. So the Mavic Mini may very well be powered by 18650 cells. The only thing speaking against using 18650 cells is weight. An average 18650 cell weighs 45g. Two of them of course at least 90g plus plastic to make the battery pack and the connector. Now we have a 2S pack with at min. 90-100g. The 3s pack on a Spark weighs 90g…     You may wonder what a 2S Mavic Mini 18650 Pack may look like. Here is a very basic mockup of what a Mavic Mini battery...